USS Batfish (SSN-681)
 USS Batfish (SSN-681) at the end of March 1995 in the western Atlantic Ocean on her way to a six-month Mediterranean Sea deployment as part of the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) carrier battle group.
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| History | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name | USS Batfish (SSN-681) |
| Namesake | The batfish, the name of any of several fishes |
| Ordered | 25 June 1968 |
| Builder | General Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut |
| Laid down | 9 February 1970 |
| Launched | 9 October 1971 |
| Sponsored by | Mrs. Arthur R. Gralla |
| Commissioned | 1 September 1972 |
| Decommissioned | 17 March 1999 |
| Stricken | 17 March 1999 |
| Fate | Scrapping via Ship and Submarine Recycling Program completed 22 November 2002 |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Sturgeon-class submarine |
| Displacement | list error: <br /> list (help) 4,195 long tons (4,262 t) light 4,501 long tons (4,573 t) full 306 long tons (311 t) dead |
| Length | 292 ft 3 in (89.08 m) |
| Beam | 31 ft 8 in (9.65 m) |
| Draft | 28 ft 8 in (8.74 m) |
| Installed power | 15,000 shaft horsepower (11.2 megawatts) |
| Propulsion | One S5W nuclear reactor, two steam turbines, one screw |
| Speed | list error: <br /> list (help) 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) surfaced 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) submerged |
| Test depth | 1,300 feet (396 meters) |
| Complement | 112 (14 officers, 98 enlisted men) |
| Armament | 4 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes |
USS Batfish (SSN-681), a Sturgeon-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the batfish, any of several fishes: a pediculate fish of the West Indies, an Indo-Pacific fish of the genus Platax, or the bat ray (the ship's insignia implies the latter).
Construction and commissioning
The contract to build Batfish was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut, on 25 June 1968 and her keel was laid down there on 9 February 1970. She was launched on 9 October 1971, sponsored by Mrs. Arthur R. Gralla, and commissioned on 1 September 1972 with Commander Richard E. Enkeboll in command.
Service history
1972-1978
After commissioning, Batfish was assigned Naval Station Charleston at Charleston, South Carolina, as her home port.
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion with: history for September 1972-January 1973. You can help by adding to it. (January 2010) |
On 22 January 1973 Batfish ran hard aground at Charleston while proceeding to sea. She was pulled free by tugs and returned to port where extensive damage to her bottom was repaired.
| This section needs expansion with: history for January 1973-March 1978. You can help by adding to it. (January 2010) |
Operation Evening Star, 1978
On 2 March 1978, Batfish, commanded by Commander (later Rear Admiral) Thomas Evans, left Charleston on what would transpire to be a remarkable 77-day patrol known as "Operation Evening Star." On 17 March 1978, Batfish detected a Soviet Navy Navaga-class (NATO reporting name "YANKEE I" class) ballistic missile submarine at the north end of the Norwegian Sea some 200 nautical miles (370 km) above the Arctic Circle. Batfish began trailing the YANKEE I, collecting valuable information on how the Soviet Navy operated. During the next 50 days, the YANKEE I never detected Batfish, and Batfish lost the YANKEE I only twice: once during a bad storm, and once when a fishing fleet passed overhead. Both times, Batfish quickly reacquired the Soviet submarine.
The Soviets remained unaware that any vessel had followed their submarine until U.S. Navy Chief Warrant Officer John Anthony Walker sold them the information. Walker pleaded guilty to espionage in 1985.
1978-1999
| This section needs expansion with: history for 1978-1992. You can help by adding to it. (January 2010) |
Batfish conducted a deployment in the Mediterranean Sea with the United States Sixth Fleet from February to August 1992.
| This section needs expansion with: history for 1992-1994. You can help by adding to it. (January 2010) |
In September 1994 Batfish's home port was changed to Naval Submarine Base New London at Groton, which remained her home port for the rest of her operational life.
| This section needs expansion with: history for September 1994-March 1995. You can help by adding to it. (January 2010) |
Batfish conducted a deployment in the Mediterranean Sea with the Sixth Fleet as part of the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) carrier battle group from March to September 1995. Batfish conducted a deployment in 1996, transiting through the Panama canal and into the Pacific for a 4 week excursion in the Southern hemisphere and Central Pacific.
| This section needs expansion with: history for 1995-1999. You can help by adding to it. (January 2010) |
Final deposition
Batfish was decommissioned on 17 March 1999 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register the same day. Her scrapping via the Nuclear-Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, was completed on 22 November 2002.
Notes
References
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.- This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.
- NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive Batfish (SSN-681)
- "Voyage of the Batfish: 50 days tailing Soviet sub" by Pauline Jelinek, The Seattle Times, 2 March 2001
External links
